It’s designed to feature older Blu-ray and DVD releases that we haven’t gotten around to reviewing until now (sorry about that!), as well as highlight select international releases and other unique titles on disc.

I try to do this column on a weekly basis, so be sure to check back regularly for more titles that are worthy of your attention. [Read on here…]

For this week’s column, I decided to venture into satirical sci-fi action territory. I took a look at a brand new release from Scream Factory, which streets July 7th, but also another classic of the same ilk. And just for posterity, I’ve included another terrific review from Bill of the same lineage...

While you’re at it, why don’t you purchase these titles through the Amazon links provided? A portion of anything that you order from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits, and we really appreciate that.

In announcement news today, Millennium Entertainment has just set Peter Landesman’s JFK assassination drama, Parkland, for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/5 (SRP $24.99 and $19.99). The film stars Zac Efron, Billy Bob Thornton and Paul Giamatti. Extras will include deleted scenes. You can find the cover art below.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox has set a Futurama: The Complete Series DVD Gift Set for release on 12/10, along with Futurama: Volume Eight on both Blu-ray and DVD that same day. Volume Eight will include audio commentary on all episodes and 3 featurettes (Precious Trimmings: A Compendium of Deleted Scenes, Futurama University and Inside Futurama: The Writers’ Room of Tomorrow). The Complete Series will include all eight volumes, all the feature-length adventures and an exclusive “2014/3014” calendar.

Sony will release The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones on Blu-ray Combo pack, DVD and Digital on 12/3. Extras will include deleted scenes, 2 featurettes (Bringing Them to Life and Descendants of the Cup), a music video and (on Blu-ray exclusively) the Interactive Lineage Tracker and 3 more featurettes (Deadly Attraction, Entering the Shadow World and Into the Shadows: From Book to Screen).

Warner Home Video has set a Million Dollar Baby: 10th Anniversary Edition for Blu-ray release on 2/4/14 (SRP $19.98). Additional details will follow.

Also, Shout! Factory and Scream Factory have confirmed the 12/17 Blu-ray release of The Beast Within and Crawlspace.

Lionsgate has set Living by the Gun for release on DVD and digital on 1/7/14.

Arc Entertainment has set Bounty Killer for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/29.

And Anchor Bay Films has set Jayne Mansfield’s Car for Blu-ray and DVD release on 12/10.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork forMillennium’s Parkland, Fox’s Futurama: Volume Eight and Futurama: The Complete Series DVD Gift Set (we’ll post a larger image of the box when we have it), and Sony’s The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones...

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve now got a complete and official listing of all the extras that will be included on Warner’s newly-announced Blu-ray Disc versions of Pacific Rim (due on 10/15). Here’s what to look for... [Read on here...]

Not bad! It appears that some of the extras will be included on the movie disc and the rest of a separate features disc. So the 4-disc Blu-ray 3D Gift Set includes a BD3D disc, a BD movie disc, a BD special features disc and a DVD, plus the option to download your choice of digital copies.

Meanwhile, CBS and Paramount have set Hawaii Five-O: The Third Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/24.

We’ll leave you with a look at the Blu-ray Disc cover art for Lionsgate’s Girl Most Likely (due 11/5), New Video’s Farscape: The Complete Series – 15th Anniversary Edition (also 11/5) and 20th Century Fox’s The Heat (10/15)...

Hey, weren’t we just talking about this title today? Well, now it’s official...

Warner Home Video is releasing Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim on Blu-ray 3D Limited Edition Gift Set, Blu-ray Combo and DVD on October 15th (SRP $44.95, $35.99 and $28.98). According to the press release, extras on the Blu-ray versions will include audio commentary by Guillermo del Toro, a Prologue by del Toro, 4 Focus Points (The Directors Notebook, Drift Space, The Digital Artistry of Pacific Rim and The Shatterdome), deleted scenes and a blooper reel. We’re double-checking to see if that’s the complete list of special features or just a “Cliff’s Notes” version, and also if there’s any retail exclusive Bonus Disc nonsense and whatnot.

[Late Update: We’ve heard back from WHV – here’s the final confirmed and detailed list of extras on the Blu-ray versions: Audio commentary by Guillermo del Toro, The Directors Notebook, 3 documentary featurettes (Drift Space, The Digital Artistry of Pacific Rim and The Shatterdome), 17 Focus Pointsfeaturettes and features (A Primer on Kaijus & Jaegers, Intricacy of Robot Design, Honoring The Kaiju Tradition, The Importance of Mass and Scale, Shatterdome Ranger Roll Call, Jaegers Echo Human Grace, Inside the Drift, Goth-Tech, Mega Sized Sets, Baby Kaiju Set Visit, Tokyo Alley Set Visit, Orchestral Sounds from the Anteverse, The Shatterdome (a Production Database), The Wall of Life/Rations, Excuse Me, Theft and “Catch You In The Drift, Dad”), deleted scenes (some 30 minutes worth according to del Toro in recent interviews) and a blooper reel.]

As you can see, the Blu-ray 3D version comes in special “Jaeger” packaging, which I hope looks a little better in person than it does in the pictures below. Here’s a look at Warner’s final cover art for all three versions, hot off the wires... [Click here for the artwork]

Amazon.com has listed Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim for Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD release on 10/15, and is taking pre-orders, however note that Warner still hasn’t confirmed this street date. So expect that it could change.

Lionsgate will release Girl Most Likely on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/5.

By the way, many of you have asked about Lionsgate’s promised but never released Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars Blu-ray. It was a title they said they were working on a couple years back, but then we never saw it. I think I now know why: I had the chance to see the only version that did get released in HD – the German Blu-ray. It’s absolutely riddled with Digital Noise Reduction. Seriously, it’s worse even than Fox’s infamous Predator or Patton discs. Much worse. If that’s the master Lionsgate had access to, they’d have gotten crucified by BD fans if they’d released it. Hopefully, there’s a re-master from original elements planned. One can only hope.

Moving on, HBO has set Larry David’s Clear History for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/5. HBO will also release Treme: The Complete Third Season on both formats on 11/19.

Millennium Entertainment has set Parkland for Blu-ray and DVD release on 11/5.

Meanwhile, Koch Entertainment has set D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance for Blu-ray release on 11/5, along with The Attack (2012) and Passion (2012). A Vivian Leigh Anniversary Collection will follow on Blu-ray on 11/19, though no details are yet available about what it might include.

For you anime fans, Section 23 will release a Gatchaman: Complete Collection on Blu-ray on 10/29 (SRP $149.92), including all 105 classic episodes and the OVAs too on 14 BD discs.

Here’s something fascinating: Shout! Factory has just announced a 38-disc DVD box set release of TV’s classic twisted soap series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman for release on 12/3! SRP for the complete series is $249.95. Extras will include essays by series developer Normal Lear, 2 documentary featurettes and 10 spin-off episodes of Fernwood 2 Night. Probably a very limited audience for the title, but I’m sure glad to see Shout! going after these classic shows. Now if only they’d consider Baa Baa Black Sheep and Seaquest DSV…

For you Kenny Rogers fans, Shout! Factory will release The Gambler on Blu-ray/DVD Combo on 11/5.

Also today, Scream Factory has just revealed that they’re planning to release 1988’s Bad Dreams (starring Nightmare on Elm Street 3’s Jennifer Rubin) and 1982’s Visiting Hours (starring Scanners’ Michael Ironside and William Shatner) on Blu-ray early next year as a double feature. The films were released as a DVD double feature by Scream in 2011 and all those extras will carry over. And apparently, new extras for Visiting Hours are also in the works. Watch for more in the weeks and months ahead.

Anchor Bay Films has set Leland Orser’s debut film Morning for DVD only release on 10/1.

And finally, some of you may have noticed that for a very brief time yesterday a piece of alleged “marketing artwork” appeared on Amazon.com promoting an official Blu-ray release of James Cameron’s The Abyss: Extended Collector’s Edition. It listed a street date of 3/14/2014. Now... we do have good information (see this Rumor Mill post from May) that 20th Century Fox is working toward releasing both Cameron’s The Abyss and True Lies on Blu-ray sometime next year, as both films celebrate major anniversaries in 2014 (it’s Abyss’ 25th anniversary and True Lies’ 20th). But I checked with a senior source at Fox yesterday and they told me in no uncertain terms that this Amazon artwork wasn’t created by them (thus we’re not going to post it here). It’s totally fan-produced and bogus. That said, with any luck both films should finally arrive on Blu-ray sometime before the end of 2014 – you can bet we’ll post any official information as soon as we have it.

We’ll leave you today with a look at the Blu-ray Disc cover artwork for Summit Entertainment’s Red 2 (due 11/26), Image’s My Name Is Nobody: 40th Anniversary Edition (11/5) and Lionsgate’s City of God/City of Men (9/24), as well as both final versions of Universal’s R.I.P.D. (10/29) and Section 23’s Gatchaman: Complete Collection…

Shout! and Scream Factory are going to release John Carpenter’s Body Bags and Assault on Precinct 13 on Blu-ray Combo on 11/12 and 11/19 respectively. Extras on Body Bags will include three audio commentary tracks, interviews with Carpenter and the actors and the trailer. Assault on Precinct 13 extras are still in development.

Sony has announced a number of new MOD Manufactured on Demand titles for release on DVD-R on 10/1, including Whatever, Gidget Gets Married, Kiss Me, Kill Me, The Comic, Air Hostess (1933), Babies for Sale, The Unwelcome Stranger, Made in Italy, Party of Five: The Complete Sixth Season and Happy Endings: The Complete Third Season. […]

Level 33 Entertainment has set The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue for DVD and digital release on 9/10. The horror comedy features Robert Englund.

Entertainment One will release the Dolph Lundgren action film Blood of Redemption on Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 9/24 (SRP $29.98 and $19.98).

Disney’s Nashville: The Complete First Season comes to DVD on 9/17.

Image and RLJ Entertainment have set Blood for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/10.

Universal will release The Best Man on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/5.

Wolfe Video will release Margarita on DVD and digital on 10/29.

Anchor Bay has set Free Samples for release on DVD on 10/29.

I know you’ve all been sitting on pins and needles waiting for this one, but MTV’s Teen Mom: The Complete First Season is headed to DVD on 10/1... exclusively at Walmart (which somehow seems oddly appropriate).

Here’s something interesting: Arrow Films has released a new remastered special edition Blu-ray of Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits in the U.K. We hear it’s pretty great, but sadly it’s region coded and will not play on U.S. BD players. We’ve asked Image Entertainment (which has the U.S. rights) if there’s any chance of an updated U.S. release and we’ll let you know if and when we hear back from them. Meanwhile, Gilliam has given a good interview with the BFI about the film and the restored release and it’s worth watching here if you’re a fan of the film.